Authors note:

Merry Christmas everyone! I guess this is my small christmas present to all of you. Not much, but maybe better than nothing ;) I just thought you'd deserve an update on whats going on. And an apology. And a sneak peak of Sunday's chapter ;)

Hey, I'm really sorry. Like actually sorry. I know that I've been off for quite some time, but I felt too demotivated to work. You know that feeling right after you've done something big, that it was really just a big pile of shit? Maybe I had just written and thought too much about this project beforehand, leading into a sort of writers burn out, but well, thats how I felt about this project for the last two months. I thought it was a waste of my time, and of yours. But I always loved the idea behind this fic, and forced myself to reread it over the last few weeks. Maybe the break gave me a new perspective on it, but I thought this wasn't nearly as bad as I had remembered. Most of the problems I saw were, with time, easily fixable. I did some serious re-editing on my google docs, and will be doing more in the future.

I hope in a few weeks time I'll be able to update all of the chapters already online. I'm striving to bring out the good quality content you deserve, something deep (Well I hope it will be, anyways lol). Don't worry tho, I'm not planning on removing much of the plot, or the tragedy elements. Small changes will occur, but mostly, I realised I just really need to flesh out most of the characters and relationships more. So especially the first chapter will get so much more content; a prologue, more Caleo, some Percabeth (finally!) as much bromance as possible etc. I'll also add in a lot Kai over the other chapters, cuz that Romance felt really rushed to me. I'll remove some of the melodrama too. As you can imagine, in that context I need as much feedback as possible. A friend from my school who's really into literature already said she'd read and annotate a copy, which is really sweet of her, but any beta readers out there, I could really use some of your skills right now! Don't worry if you don't have time tho, I completely understand that.

To be honest, if you're reading this in the first place I am already very grateful. After not having updated for so long I think I'd deserve some bloody punishment, but not even the follower count has gone down, so thank you so much for sticking with me through all of that. Reviews, especially those which criticise the fanfic (any lists of the worst and best parts would be appreciated ;) ) are really really welcome. I need to know where my weaknesses are, and sometimes the author is a little too biased to see those clearly enough. Don't take this as a begging for reviews tho, I'm really in it for the critique. If you don't think I deserve the reviews (which I definitely do not after all of this), I get that 100%.

Sooo anyways, after this long ramble here's something you might like. Last chapter was really the inciting incident for this fic, so yep, I was always and still am planning on writing at least 150 thousand words. I kinda left you on a cliff-hanger last time, with a bunch of questions unanswered, so a sneak peak of the next chapter, coming out on Sunday as usual, is right here:

Their new headquarters at Hogwarts was impressive. Annabeth had decided that it was time to use the chamber she had read about. The chamber she had heard about.

The dark and gloomy, but gigantic hall was just what they needed. The corpse of a basilisk was still rotting, laying stretched out across the floor. The statue of Salazar Slytherin was staring down at the demigods, his eyes almost gleaming with frustration. The chamber of secrets had been reopened. By demigods.

Already the hall had gained a half-blood flair. Annabeth had confiscated the feet of the statue, situating her planing tables, scrolls and the Iris messaging machine there. The eastern wall had been turned into the armoury. Leo had pulled out as many weapons, pieces of armour and tools for their repair as his magical belt would allow, and neatly stacked them up, ordered and well oiled, not a rust stain to be seen. What was most impressive however was the gigantic construction attached to the ceiling. It was a wooden mess, surrounding a gigantic, almost unidentifiable central skeleton of a ship. Walkways connected the different parts. Buckets filled with nails and entire tables and benches stacked with tools were standing below, covering the majority of the chambers floor. Hammering could be heard from above. A cyclops was attaching the first planks to the outside hull, each reinforced by stripes of celestial bronze. "Hey brother, could you pass me some more of the nails?" He asked, his voice raspy.

Percy was already walking up the ramparts, carrying two large buckets filled with them. He was sweaty and tired, but hurried nonetheless; his brother was working at such a speed that he used up the nails and wood faster than Percy could bring them. They were lucky to have Tyson, very lucky.

Annabeth sighed in frustration once more. She had been trying to gather as many of their allies as possible, plan a coordinated rescue mission. But these damned hunters were unreachable! She kicked a table close by, and instantly regretted it. Now not only her head was throbbing in pain, but also her foot. The quick jabs of agony slowly residing, she threw another drachme into the machine. It felt like she had done it a thousand times. "Iris, please please, Please! show me the hunters of Artemis." Annabeth begged. And then-

"Thalia?!"

A punk-rock girl was standing in front of her, the short hair in spikes, the leather jacket ripped and filled with patches of bands Annabeth hadn't even heard of. The eyes of Thalia where as blue and cold as ever, but the corners of her mouth twitched upwards at seeing her childhood friend. After a short, but comfortable, almost nostalgic silence, she said:

"It's good to see you."

So yep, you've guessed it, this is "the heroes round up their friends to defeat the big baddy" type chapter. But- this time, they're not trying to win, theire just trying to save as many of the campers as possible. Some more explanations of the circumstances will be given with the rest of this chapter this Sunday. If youre still reading this, my utmost thanks! And yes, the fanservice (Tyson, Thalia, Chamber of Secrets) isn't just fanservice but also plot. At least I think so XD. Or maybe a present for an apology. A lame one, but as you read the rest of my work you're used to lame sh*t already lol.

Merry Christmas!

Fives signing out.